What is Critical Thinking?

Before when I had thought about critical thinking, I had defined it as being when a person has to think about a subject matter which requires them to go beyond the parameters of normal thought and reasoning.  It requires a person to look beyond what is normally seen in daily life and instead of acknowledging its existence and continuing on with one’s life, to center ones focus on the subject and analyze it further than ever before.  I also think that through this deeper level of examination, it is possible that one may be lead to truths which one may find uncomfortable depending on the subject matter that is analyzed. But I believe this shows that one’s thinking has delve to a deeper level of thought and thusly allows it to be classified as critical thinking.  I believe my definition of critical thinking has been shaped through the classes I have taken during my life (especially the last few years) which have asked me to think critically to answer questions in the class.  Most recently I had been asked to think critically while reading my book assignments in my sociology class so that I would be able to interpret them in a way which facilitated the weekly online discussions we had during the course.  As was the case in my English class last semester when my instructor asked us to think critically while writing our final paper.

The educational reformer John Dewey, can be considered an 'expert' on critical thinking. His ideas have greatly shaped the educational system, especially when it came to his definition of critical thinking as having active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends.

Harvey J. Brightman.  (n.d). GSU Master Teacher Program: On Critical Thinking. Retrieved from http://www2.gsu.edu/~dschjb/wwwcrit.html

John Dewey basically advocates that for students to be able to think critically they must be taught to examine, poke and reflect upon what it is they have learned or are learning about.  Basically it is done through having students do some sort of activity and then having them reflect upon that activity directly afterwards to achieve critical thinking.

I think the connection between critical thinking and IM 204 Research Strategies which I am taking this semester is that both critical thinking and my IM 204 class will require me to think beyond the normal parameters of convention thought (face value), and really analyze what the information I find is telling me about the subject I am researching.